Archive for the 'Game Reports' CategoryPage 5 of 21

Wings 4, Wild 1

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 23, 2007
in 2007-2008, Game Reports and Wild
. 4 Comments

The Wings once again put the Wild in their place with their second dominant performance against the boys from “Farber’s Hockeytown.”  The Wild stayed roughly competitive for a little over a period and a half, but the Wings pulled away in the final five minutes of the second and never really looked back. It was a return to the “A” game.

A few thoughts on the game:

… Dominik Hasek got the start for the Wings and made 18 saves. He  didn’t have to make many big stops, but he was there when required and improved to 9-0-2 in his career against the Wild. He looked a little out of position on the lone Minnesota goal, but it was deflected in off Chris Chelios so it may not have made any difference. With the Wings dominating the puck, Dom was mostly along for the ride, anyway.

… At the other end of the ice was Niklas Backstrom and I think he deserves a good chunk of credit for stopping 47 shots, many of which required monster saves. He robbed a couple Wings, including Jiri Hudler and Valtteri Filppula, though the Wings scored a split second later on that latter chance. Backstrom is the only reason this game wasn’t a rout on the scoreboard as well as just about everywhere else.

… As I wrote above, the Wings’ first goal came just after a glorious Filppula chance was denied by Backstrom. Fil had the whole right side of the net to shoot at, but Backstrom managed to knock it down with his glove and stick as he dove across. He didn’t control the puck, however, and Pavel Datsyuk immediately followed up by knocking it into the net. You can’t fault Backstrom for that one, as the puck squirted out to Filppula after coming at the net from the left point and Datsyuk was left unmolested in front of the net.

… It doesn’t appear in the play-by-play, but early in the second period, while on the power play, Brett Lebda put the puck in the net at the tail end of a flurry that included the bowling over of Johan Franzen by a Wild defender into Backstrom. Backstrom ended up essentially on his back with the puck between his legs. The down low official stepped up, into the crease, to see if it was still live. It ended up getting picked up by Lebda, whose shot glanced off the officials calf on it’s way in. That ref signaled it was a goal, but the play went immediately to review because of the ref at center ice.

At first, the consensus was that something was being called on Franzen for having fallen into Backstrom. However, that theory was soon ruled out as it was noticed that the puck had gone in off the ref. The goal was waived off because of Rule 85.4:

If a goal is scored as a result of being deflected directly into the net off an official, the goal shall not be allowed.

Okay. I can accept that. I just want to know what the heck the ref was doing in the crease. That was a major brain cramp on the part of that official (I’m not sure if it was Chris Lee or Dennis LaRue).

… At 15:14, Johan Franzen made it 2-0 with a nice individual effort. Jiri Hudler intercepted a Wild outlet pass sent it to Mikael Samuelsson, who dropped it Franzen along the left wing boards. Johan carried the puck around behind the net and back out front on the right side. For whatever reason, Backstrom didn’t hold the post and Franzen roofed it on what should have been a fairly routine save. The goal pretty much came out of the blue.

There has been some debate in the media about the value of second assists and I have to say that Hudler’s was deserved on this one. Had he not made the play on the Minnesota pass, Franzen never would have had a chance to make Backstrom look foolish.

… The Wings scored again 45 seconds later. This time, it was Dan Cleary, who benefited from a beautiful long pass by Nick Lidstrom and broke in on Backstrom all alone. He put a quick blocker-side wrister into the net  with Brent Burns trailing to make it 3-0 Wings.

Brett Lebda got the second assist and this time I think it was a bit of a crock, since the puck did nothing more than glance off his skate when the Wild shot it into the Detroit end. Lidstrom’s great pass was all the assistance Cleary required. Nick’s awareness that Minnesota was going through a line change, which was well-outlined by the FSN crew, and the accuracy of the pass made it all happen.

… At 18:27, Valtteri Filppula was called for holding. I don’t recall ever seeing a holding penalty called when neither of a player’s hands ever left his stick, so this was new to me. Fil was trying to split a pair of defenders and used his right arm in a battle for the puck, the possession of which he had only just lost. I believe it was the official behind the play that made the call, which may explain it. It looked like an innocent battle for the puck from the front, but perhaps from the back it looked like that most heinous of all hockey penalties, the offensive-zone hold.

What made the penalty even more unfortunate was the fact that the Wild scored on the subsequent power play. The really unfortunate part of that sequence of play was that a Red Wing clearing attempt was masterfully blocked by the linesman. The puck stayed in the zone and it wasn’t much later that the Wild got within two. The puck went in off a diving Chelios and left a somewhat out-of-position Hasek with little chance at stopping it.

… Given that they scored at 19:51 of the second period, you would have thought the Wild would have had a boost going into the third.  Whatever they had hoped to do, however, was thwarted by  one of the Wings more impressive defensive performance of the season. Minnesota managed just two shots in the first eight minutes of the period and five total in the third. They had managed just seven in each of the first two periods. The Wings put up 16, 17, and 18 for a total of 51, dominating offensively while maintaining a high defensive standard.

… Tomas Kopecky rounded out the scoring at 9:59 with a gritty goal right on the doorstep. He seems to be getting better every night.

… In the absence of Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom, Valtteri Filppula and Dan Cleary really stepped up their play as they saw time with Pavel Datsyuk. Fil has been on the verge of breaking out all season and it appears we are finally witnessing his transition from a somewhat bumbling second-year  player to a mature two-way dominant force. Cleary is showing once again that he can both grind it out on the third line and skate with the stars.

… Another strong win for the Wings, who enter the Christmas Break on a high note despite uncertainty about two of their stars. The Wings obviously want Hank and Holmstrom back as soon as possible, but they showed last night that they can still win if other guys step it up. The Wings demonstrated their depth last night and showed why they have to be considered the best team in the NHL at this time.

That’s especially encouraging given the chance that Zetterberg’s back could keep him out of some games in the future. Personally, I’d like to think about that contingency as little as possible, but you know the Wings have considered it. If the trade deadline were tomorrow and the playoffs started the day after that, I wouldn’t change a thing about the team as it stands now, but with the news that Hank’s back isn’t always fine, trade (or free agent) possibilities  are on the table. Over at Abel to Yzerman, IwoCPO looks at some options.

There is, of course, always the chance that Hank’s back could turn out to be nothing to worry about and he may return to the lineup right after the Break, seemingly none the worse for wear. We can only hope.

… Other than the Links, I have just one more thing to point out. After the game, Kris Draper was asked where he was going. His answer?

“I’m going back to Hockeytown.”

Thanks to Erik for posting that in the GameDay post comments.

Links

Wings 2, Blues 3

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 21, 2007
in 2007-2008, Blues and Game Reports
. 2 Comments

Update (7:18 PM): George Malik has posted his Wings/Blues media wrap-up and post-game wrap-up. - Matt

A few thoughts on the game:

First of all, Chris Osgood is the only reason the Blues did not lead by 3-4 goals in the first period. He was extremely sharp and kept the Wings in the game long enough for them to get their feet back under them after the first intermission.

The second period was somewhat more tilted in the Wings’ favor as they came out of the locker room looking like they were ready to play. While Osgood continued his stellar goaltending, the skaters took to the task of evening the game up, something that finally happened at 10:35 of the period when Valtteri Filppula scored his ninth of the year. 30 seconds later, Mikael Samuelsson ended a 13-game slump with his fourth, giving the Wings the lead.

Keith Tkachuk tied the game at 4:22 of the third period by tipping in a Paul Kariya shot. Osgood had no chance on that one. The Blues, who had been physical all night, became downright rough after that. I thought the Wings did a fair job of adapting to the physical game, but the Blues’ size and determination to grind their opponents into a pulp wore the forwards down.

I fully understand the Blues’ strategy of playing a rough and physical game. What I don’t understand is where the officials were during all of that, as St. Louis was often outside the bounds of legality, at least as I understand the rules. There are many examples, but the three very obvious cross-checks by a Blues defender on Johan Franzen near the end of the game stand out in particular. Franzen is the second largest player on the team and is one of the tougher Red Wings, but he was knocked down at least twice a couple vicious high cross-checks - while the ref was watching.

Another blown call that hasn’t gotten a lot of press was the kneeing that resulted in Holmstrom’s injury. I don’t recall the name of the Blues involved, but  Holmstrom was effectively tag-teamed by two of them, with one taking him down from behind and the other, who had been covering Zetterberg, sticking his knee out as he came in. Although Holmstrom made it off the ice on his own, he could have something of a serious injury.

The worst blown call, however, had little to do with exceptionally rough or nasty play on the part of the Blues. It was a clean-cut case of goaltender interference that somehow went unpenalized on the game-winner. While Lee Stempianak was busy winding up for his shot, Jeff David Backes was backing into Osgood. By the time the shot was on it’s way, Backes was making contact with Osgood and clearly interfering with his ability to make the save. Had it been at the other end of the ice, with Tomas Holmstrom doing anything like the same thing, the goal would have been waived off in a second, probably because the whistle would have blown before the shooter would have had a chance to release the puck.

I can stomach losses. I have to, because the Wings aren’t going to win them all. This one goes down badly, however, particularly because of that game-winner. There was no way the Wings were going to be able to tie things up after that, with the Blues playing pre-Lockout defense like they were and the officials letting them get away with it.

I hate complaining about officials because it is so often a cop out and an excuse for poor play. However, it’s difficult to ignore a blown call on the game-winning goal. The officiating for the rest of the game was bad, I thought, but I suppose the Wings could have overcome it. That task would have been made easier if they weren’t in the second game of a back-to-back, though.

Personally, I thought they held up fairly well, given that they had played the night before and were facing a rested and highly motivated team. Their final push to tie things up was great to see, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. I suppose the Blues deserve credit for breaking out of their slump with a win over the League leaders, but they aren’t going to get it from me.

Instead, I’ll give credit to Pavel Datsyuk for standing up to the Blues, who singled him out all night and ran him multiple times, with each instance becoming more dangerous as they became emboldened by the indifference of the officials. Rather than becoming gun-shy, Pavel did his best to stick it to the Blues right to the end of the game. It’s quite unfortunate that he wasn’t able to do more than create chances for himself and others.

One last thing: I hate Barret Jackman and have ever since his first year, when he won the Calder Trophy over Henrik Zetterberg. The guy represents all of the dirtiness of Chris Pronger without any of the offensive upside.

This has nothing to do with his on-ice play, but I think it illustrates Jackman’s character (or lack thereof): Late in the game last night, while the Wings were pressuring in the St. Louis end, the Blues iced the puck. While the puck was going heading to the Detroit end, Jackman went to the bench and got off. The ref went over to pull him back onto the ice, as the rule stipulates, but the linesman, for whatever reason, decided that Jackman wasn’t on the ice after all. Jackman, rather than doing the honest thing by going back out voluntarily, let the officials talk it out, which gave the Blues a rest they never should have gotten. In the end, Jackman was allowed to stay on the bench. The smirk on his face as he sat down told it all. He knew exactly what he was doing. Some might call it smart of Jackman, but I call it cheap.

Anyway, the Wings fortunately get to rest today. Hopefully they’ll be ready to face Minnesota and Marian Gaborik, who was the first player to score five goals in a game since Sergei Fedorov did it in 1996.

Links

GameDay: @ St. Louis (16-12-2, 34 Pts) 8:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 20, 2007
in Blues, Game Reports, GameDay and Kings
. 0 Comments

Update (8:38 PM): According to Ted Kulfan, Chris Chelios isn’t thrilled about having to sit tonight, despite the fact that it’s been the Wings’ plan all along. While I understand Cheli’s frustration and think it’s great that he wants to play every game, it seems to me that Derek Meech deserves a game every once and a while.

It’s an unfortunate situation for the young defenseman, who can’t be sent down to Grand Rapids without having to clear waivers, but can’t crack the Wings’ blueline due to a very deep top-6. I’m sure Meech is proud to be a part of the organization, but this situation has to be frustrating for him, on some level, at least. As much as I’d hate to lose him, you have to wonder if maybe it wouldn’t be better for his career if the Wings’ did waive him and allow another team to take him.

Also, he isn’t necessarily a lock to become a regular next season, despite the fact that Andreas Lilja’s contract is up this year. As much as the fans revile the big Swede, the front office seems to value him and I think they’d likely try to re-sign him. With Chelios and Lidstrom locks to re-sign and Lilja also likely to return, Meech would once again be relegated to the backburner.

That’s without accounting for Kyle Quincey and Jonathan Ericsson. Anyone know how much longer they can shuttle back and forth between the AHL and NHL without having to clear waivers? I haven’t been able to find a quick answer on that.

Be sure to check out Nathan’s excellent post on the Chris Simon suspension over at HockeyTownTodd. - Matt

Update (6:02 PM): According to Bruce MacLeod, Kris Draper will play tonight, despite an earlier report that said he’d only play in one of the two back-to-back games. If you’re looking for actual quotes from Draper, see Ansar Khan’s post on the same topic.

Aaron Downey will sit out another game. I’d completely forgotten that earlier report on Draper, which is why I neglected to mention it below.

MacLeod also says that Chris Chelios will be a healthy scratch tonight in favor of Derek Meech. The Wings are sticking to their plan of not playing Cheli on consecutive nights through the first half of the season. - Matt

Tonight is the third of eight games between these two Central Division teams this season. The series is tied 1-1, with the Blues having won the November 13th meeting 4-3 and  the Wings winning November 21st, 3-0. They’ll face each other twice more this month (the 26th and 31st) before wrapping things up with three games in March.

The Blues rebounded from being blanked by the Wings last month with three wins in a row and an overtime loss to finish out November. Since then, however, they are just 2-4-1.  Their only wins this month have come against the Blackhawks on the 1st (3-1) and the Oilers on the 7th (4-3). Two nights after their win over Edmonton, they dropped a 9-5 decision in Colorado. After that, it was a 5-4 shootout loss to the visiting Oilers. Their remaining losses came to Florida (1-0) and Calgary (5-3). They have not played since Sunday, so once again the Wings are facing a rested team as they play their second game in two nights.

Brad Boyes leads the Blues in goals with 19, but Paul Kariya leads in points with 29 (21A). Boyes is the only Blue to have scored 10 or more goals, though Kariya is not far behind with eight. The newest member of the team, Andy MacDonald, has only five goals, but he scored one in his debut on Sunday and notched an assist.

It looks like the Blues will just be without forward Mike Johnson (hip).

Former Red Wing Manny Legace should be in the net for St. Louis. Manny has posted a 2.25 GAA and .916 save-percentage so far this season. He gave up four goals Sunday, but has beaten the Wings the last three times he’s played them in St. Louis.

For the Blues perspective, see Note Speak, St. Louis Game Time, The Hockey Chick, and The Checking Line.

The Wings are coming off a pretty decisive win over the last-place LA Kings last night. They quickly allayed any fears that they’d play down to the level of an underachieving team by jumping out to a 2-0 lead before the 10:00 mark. For a brief period at the end of the first and the start of the second, they allowed the Kings to get back into the game, as LA tied it up, but they soon took the lead again and never looked back.

Five different players scored for the Wings last night, which is a good sign for those of us who are concerned about their secondary scoring. Henrik Zetterberg started the team out with a nice shot off the feed from Nick Lidstrom and Jiri Hudler followed up a little over six minutes later with his 8th of the year. Tomas Holmstrom put the Wings up 3-2 just over three minutes after the Kings tied it with a bit of a garbage goal. Dan Cleary knocked home is 11th of the year eight minutes later. Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula finished  up the scoring in the third with their fifth and eighth goals, respectively.

Kris Draper played only 14:15 in his return from a knee sprain, but I thought he looked good out there. The only remaining injured Red Wing is Kirk Maltby, who may be back for the New Year’s Eve Blues game.

Dominik Hasek looked a little weak on the Kings’ second goal in particular last night, but ended up with 18 saves. He’ll be “backing up” Chris Osgood tonight, though he won’t see the ice in anything less than an emergency.

For more of the Wings’ perspective, be sure to stop by Snapshots, Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, Red Wings Nation, yzerman is god, and Winging It In Motown. HockeyTownTodd already has some pre-game comments posted.

The Wings can’t expect to have the same success on the power play that they had last night, when they went 3-for-5 with the man-advantage. The Blues are the second-best penalty killing team in the League at 87.3% and their 142 times shorthanded is good for 20th in the League (compare to Anahiem’s 207, which puts them at first, and the Wings’ 168, which is second-most). So, they don’t take a ton of penalties and they’re good at killing off those that they do take. The Wings should, of course, take advantage of what power play opportunities they are given, but they’re more likely going to have to score at even strength.

It was good to see the Wings dominate the Kings, as it bodes well for tonight The Blues have had a rough December, but they remain a dangerous team and if the Wings had gone into tonight playing they have recently, they would have been in for an upset. If, however, last night is any indication, they are at least on the road back to their “A” game, maybe somewhere between “B-plus” and “A-minus.”

The problem, of course, is that the Blues are both rested and fast, while the Wings will be tired from their game last night and from travel. Because of that, we can expect at least some trouble. The Blues are looking to this game to help them get out of the slump they’ve been in, so you can bet that they’re taking tonight seriously.

Hopefully, the Wings will be able to weather the storm at the start, a task that will be made easier by the presence of a rested Chris Osgood between the pipes. If they can balance a defensive stand with a couple early goals, that would go a long way in taking the wind out of the Blues’ sails, and all that will be left is to hold their lead. If they can’t do that and the Blues get ahead, it’ll be difficult for the Wings to stage a comeback later in the game as their energy level drops. Not impossible, but difficult.

Wings 4, Caps 3 (SO)

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 18, 2007
in 2007-2008, Capitals and Game Reports
. 3 Comments

The Wings beat the Washington Capitals at home last night, 4-3 in a shootout. They continue to play below their own high standard, but it’s difficult to complain as long as they keep winning. If this is all the downswing we’ll see this season, we’ll be lucky.

Some thoughts on the game:

… The Caps were much better than I thought they would be. Prior to the game, I had read that they’d been playing better ever since the coaching change, but I was still surprised to see them stay neck-and-neck with the Wings all night. Of course, Detroit not playing its “A” game was part of it, but a larger part, I think, was the Caps’ own effort. It’ll be very tough for them to make the playoffs, but, if nothing else, they’re setting a good tone for next season.

… I thought the Wings could have been a bit more disciplined. You can say what you want about the equity of the officiating, but the Wings handed Washington seven power plays. It’s no wonder they gave up two power play goals. Six of the Caps’ 30 shots came with the man-advantage. Especially in the third period, they were on their heels because of penalty trouble.

… Tonight was a night where they really missed Kirk Maltby. HockeyTownTodd pointed out in the A2Y liveblog thread that the Wings were using four pairs of forwards on the PK, which means six forwards who were killing penalties before are killing them now. That explains why the PK hasn’t dropped off in the absence of Drapes and Malts. Still, tell me things wouldn’t have gone differently on the Caps’ first power play goal, which came right off the faceoff, if Draper hadn’t taken the draw.

… Tomas Holmstrom wasted little time making an impact in his return. He redirected Nick Lidstrom’s shot with his skate to put the Wings up 1-0 at 3:57 of the first period and scored the go-ahead goal at 15:17 of the third. A solid night for Homer, though one of the Caps’ goals went in off him.

… Pavel Datsyuk looked strong. His two of his three assists really stood out as great feeds, while the other was a good one that found Nick Lidstrom wide open on the backside. Pavel was dangerous throughout the game and I thought he was more noticeable than Ovechkin.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a flawless night for Pavel, as his accidental clearing of the puck into the stands in the third period lead to the Caps’ second power play goal and a tied game at 18:26. He made up for it with a goal in the shootout, but it would have been better if the delay of game penalty had never happened.

… The Wings’ passing on Henrik Zetterberg’s goal was something special. The play started out with Hank along the right wing boards. He passed the puck to Lidstrom on the point, who took a shot that was blocked out front. Pavel Datsyuk picked up the rebound and immediately threw it back to Zetterberg, who had stepped up to the circle. Hank’s one-timer beat Kolzig glove-side.

… At 9:41 of the second period, Donald Brashear was given a roughing penalty for a nasty hit on Mikael Samuelsson along the center ice boards. Sammy’s head smacked the glass pretty hard, but he didn’t miss much time. It looked like Aaron Downey would have to call out a guy a couple weight classes above him, but he didn’t play after 3:32 of the second. Obviously Babcock didn’t want the distraction.

… Alexander Ovechkin got his point, but didn’t stand out on every shift. He remained dangerous, however, and had a great chance to put the game away in overtime when he found himself all alone in front of Hasek. Dom laid out and stopped the puck virtually on the goalline. He’s fortunate Ovechkin couldn’t get the puck up.

The Wings can thank Ovechkin for his tendency to try to do everything on his own, as Holmstrom’s second goal came as a direct result of a solo rush by the Russian. Ovechkin lost the puck and fell, allowing Datsyuk to take it the other way and make the play to Holmstrom at the goalmouth.

…  Olaf Kolzig is still a solid goaltender, but he looked a little foolish when he was beaten by the same move for all three Red Wings shooters in the shootout. Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Jiri Hudler all gave a bit of a shoulder fake and deked to the backhand before putting the puck over Kolzig’s left pad.

… Dom played a solid game, given the number of Caps scoring chances. I thought he could have done a better job on the first and last Washington goal, but both were good shots and good plays. He had little chance on the second goal, which was deflected at least twice on the way to the net. In the shootout, he was beaten twice, but only one went in. He can thank the post for the other one. His save on Ovechkin in overtime was the save of the game.

… The Wings are going to have to improve their play as they near a five-game road trip against St. Louis, Minnesota, and Colorado. They’ve been playing “B” grade hockey lately and while that may be good enough against teams like Florida or Washington, it won’t be against the Blues, Wild, or Avs. They have one night to get back to top flight hockey and that’s Wednesday against the Kings.

Links

Wings 5, Panthers 2

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 16, 2007
in 2007-2008, Game Reports and Panthers
. 0 Comments

Update (6:25 PM): George Malik has posted his wrap-up for the game. - Matt

Update (4:33 PM): I should point out that last night was the first time in the Wings’ history that they had two penalty shots in the same game. - Matt

The Wings notched their eighth win in nine games last night with a 5-2 decision over the Florida Panthers. It was an exciting game, but also a strange one, with two own-goals and two penalty shots to go with continuous action and a good pace. It was definitely a different game than I expected.

Chris Osgood got the start for the Wings and played yet another solid game. He essentially had a shutout, as the Panthers were unable to beat him on their own and required the help of two of the Wings’ defensemen.

The game was not fast-paced and exciting from the start, as the Panthers managed to ice the puck three times in the first four minutes. For their part, the Wings were pretty sloppy in their own end and had trouble linking up passes. They turned the puck over a few times, but the Panthers only manged to lob it toward the net, where it either went wide or was blocked.

Gradually, the Wings got it together, however. Around the 4:20 mark, Dan Cleary had a glorious scoring chance from Pavel Datsyuk while Tomas Vokoun was without his stick. He nearly managed to stuff it in 5-hole, but Vokoun got his right pad in front of the shot and made the save. Following that play, the top line of Datsyuk, Cleary, and Henrik Zetterberg finished out their shift with some solid pressure.

At 5:03, the Panthers  took a penalty just after Vokoun made a big save with Johan Franzen right in his face. On the ensuing power play, the Wings set up well while Florida played an aggressive penalty kill. Nick Lidstrom, left wide open and found by Zetterberg, had a great chance to score, but sent it high and wide.

At 5:48, Florida took another penalty and handed the Wings 1:15 in 5-on-3 time. Although the first power play unit had been on the ice 45 seconds already, Babcock chose to keep them out rather than put fresh legs in. After Dan Cleary tipped the puck wide of the net twice, the Wings set up their first goal of the game.

Brian Rafalski, on the right point, sent the puck down to Zetterberg to Vokoun’s left. Hank sent the puck through the crease to Datsyuk, who put it in the net off Vokoun’s left skate. Pavel’s fortunate Vokoun’s skate was there, as the puck would have gone back through the crease rather than into the net without it. 1-0 Wings at 6:18.

Because the goal was scored while the Wings were still on a 5-on-3 power play, they continued to have the man-advantage. The only noteworthy thing that occurred before the Panthers killed off the penalty, however, was a nifty move by Nik Kronwall to fake out a defender at the blueline. It led to a Mikael Samuelsson chance, but not, unfortunately, to a goal.

By 7:30 of the first period, the Wings were leading 13-0 in shots.

Following the 5-on-3, the Wings continued their dominance. Johan Franzen nearly scored around the 9:10 mark when he sent a shot off a rebound through the crease. The fourth line did a great job of holding the Panthers in their own zone as they cycled the puck well and generated a lot of energy. Pavel Datsyuk made a nifty between-the-legs pass to Henrik Zetterberg, who promptly squandered a chance to drive to the net by wheeling around behind it, leading to nothing.

Throughout the first two-thirds of the period, the Panthers had little or no offense. They managed  their first shot at 8:14, but did not get a second until five minutes later. Chris Osgood earned cheers for making saves on both, as the fans were happy to see him get some work. Florida did eventually get going in the final 7 minutes of the period, though.

Richard Zednik nearly beat Brett Lebda around the 15:00 mark, but Brett managed to recover and make a nice defensive play at the last minute. That was the Wings’ defensive mode of choice in the final minutes of the period. The Panthers would get a great chance only to be stopped at the last second by the desperate play of a Red Wing, such as Valtteri Filppula, who broke up a sure goal with a well-timed poke-check.

The Panther’s surge came in the midst of an eight minute stretch of play in which there were no whistles. Chris Osgood finally froze it at 2:46, however, but that only led to a couple Florida chances after the faceoff. The last couple minutes of the period were fairly even, though .

Twenty seconds into the second period, Datsyuk stole the puck and somehow got it through to Zetterberg, who ended up running out of real estate, so the chance came to nothing.

At the other end, Olli Jokinen threw the puck  out front of the net and Nick Lidstrom, in an effort to clear it, ended up putting it in himself. His first swipe knocked the puck up in the air and when it came down, it bounce toward the net off his shoulder. Nick then tried to knock it out of the air, but only managed to knock it into the net. It looked worse live than it did on the replay, but it was still a shock. I don’t think he’s ever made a mistake like that in his career. 1-1 at :46 of the second period.

After the goal, the Wings’ second line of Jiri Hudler, Valtteri Filppula, and Mikael Samuelsson, together with Chris Chelios and Brett Lebda had a solid pressure shift, until Lebda fanned on the puck at the blueline. Not long after that, Dallas Drake had a couple scoring chances, but couldn’t capitalize. The Wings were looking a bit sloppy at this point.

Chris Chelios put the Panthers up 2-1 at 4:59. Radek Dvorak carried the puck in on a rush and took a shot that was stopped by Osgood. Chelios, following up on the play, took a swipe at the rebound in an effort to clear the front of the net, but he fanned on it a bit and it hit his skate and headed toward the net. He tried to knock it away again, but only managed to stuff it just inside the left post. Needless to say, Cheli was less than impressed with himself. Osgood could only shake his head.

Almost immediately after the Chelios goal, Zetterberg nearly scored on Osgood, too. I missed that one because I was still writing notes on the last own-goal, but it came on a flurry and disaster was only narrowly averted.

At this point, despite not having actually scored a goal, the Panthers were looking quite confident. They took a delay of game penalty at 7:35, however, and ended up giving up a goal as a result.

With Rostislav Olesz down on the ice after blocking a shot with his ankle, the Wings effectively had a 5-on-3 power play. Kronwall sent a shot/pass to Jiri Hudler to Vokoun’s left, but Jiri’s shot went through the crease and missed the net. Johan Franzen picked it up and stuffed it into the net with Vokoun’s help as the latter fell backward into the net with his hand on the puck.  2-2 at 8:58.

At 10:40, Valtteri Filppula took a holding penalty and put the Wings on the penalty kill. Florida’s power play did not last long, however, as Ruslan Salei was called for tripping Dallas Drake at 11:19.  It was easily the worst call of the night, as Drake was already falling when Salei got mixed up with him at the blueline. For 1:21, the teams skated four-a-side, but nothing much of note happened. Pavel Datsyuk managed a couple shots on the Wings’ abbreviated power play, but that was all.

Chris Osgood made a great save on a dangerous Florida chance following a bad bounce in the Detroit end. Olli Jokinen and Nathan Horton were in on that one. Not long after that, Tomas Kopecky had a solid scoring chance of his own from Johan Franzen. Dan Cleary nearly scored off a feed from Datstyuk at 16:44, but Vokoun made a huge save on the tip.

The Wings went back on the power play at 18:00 after Richard Zednik slashed Datsyuk’s stick in half in the Detroit end. It was an incredibly dangerous play, as it would have easily broken  Pavel’s hand had it landed anywhere other than the stick. Fortunately for the Wings, however, Datsyuk was not injured on the play, though he was bowled over Branislav Mezei before the play was whistled dead.

On the ensuing power play, the Wings’ second unit cycled the puck very well and generated a couple strong chances. The power play was cut short by another Filppula penalty at 19:18, however. It was another weak call, but may be seen as a make-up for the bad call on the Drake trip earlier.

With the teams skating 4-on-4, Pavel Datsyuk had a breakaway, but ran out of real estate and put the puck in Vokoun’s chest. He stayed with the play, however, and fed the puck to Lidstrom, who got off a shot that didn’t go in. The Panthers took it the other way, with Jokinen carrying, and had a great scoring chance developing when Zetterberg made a diving play to knock the puck away from the Florida captain. The play did not stop there, however, Nathan Horton managed to get his stick on the errant puck as it flew across the net and deflected it just wide.

At the start of the third period, the Panthers controlled the play, with Radek Dvorak wrecking havoc in the Detroit end. Gradually, however, play evened out as the Wings regained their feet.

Dan Cleary broke the tie with his 10th of the season at 5:40. Andreas Lilja lobbed the puck at the net and forced Vokoun to make a save, and Cleary picked it up from around his feet, knocking it in 5-hole. Brian Rafalski extended the Wings’ lead a 1:04 later with a blast from the blueline that beat Vokoun high glove side. It may have been deflected by a Panther on the way to the net, but it was not a screened shot at all and probably one Vokoun would like back.

At 7:47, Pavel Datsyuk got a step on the Panther defense and broke in on Vokoun. Although he got a shot off, he was hooked by the Florida defenseman and was awarded a penalty shot as a result. For those wondering whether or not that was the right call, Rule 25.8 says that four conditions must be met in order for a penalty shot to be awarded:

(i) The infraction must have taken place in the neutral zone or attacking
zone, (i.e. over the puck carrier’s own blue line);

(ii) The infraction must have been committed from behind;

(iii) The player in possession and control (or, in the judgment of the
Referee, clearly would have obtained possession and control of the
puck) must have been denied a reasonable chance to score (the fact
that he got a shot off does not automatically eliminate this play from
the penalty shot consideration criteria. If the foul was from behind and
he was denied a “more” reasonable scoring opportunity due to the
foul, then the penalty shot should be awarded);

(iv) The player in possession and control (or, in the judgment of the
Referee, clearly would have obtained possession and control of the
puck) must have had no opposing player between himself and the
goalkeeper.

Obviously, the play met conditions i, ii, iv. As for condition iii, the official must have decided Pavel would have had a better chance to score had he not been hooked.

So, Pavel Datsyuk got the Wings’ second penalty shot in three games. Unfortunately, he tried the same move he used in the shootout Thursday (backhand to forehand deke) and was stopped by Vokoun.

At 11:14, Valtteri Filppula picked up the puck following a Franzen chance and drew another penalty shot, as Vokoun threw his stick in order to stop another scoring chance. Fil used the same move he used in his first penalty shot, a deke to the backhand, and beat Vokoun over his left pad. Vokoun tried to poke check the puck away, but failed miserably. 5-2 Wings at 11:17.

The Wings took a penalty at 13:14, but put on a good kill as the Panthers managed only a scattered power play.

After the Florida power play, Mark Hartigan rang a shot off the post. Ken Daniels chose that time to inform us that the Wings needed one more shot to set a season high with 46. I thought, “And now they won’t get one.” For the next few minutes, it looked like I would be right, as they stopped forechecking and settled back into a defensive posture. They did finally notch that last shot with 40.6 seconds left , but it was a harmless long shot that Vokoun stopped easily. The game ended with Osgood freezing the puck after a late Florida push.

It was Mike Babcock’s 200th career win, but he won’t get the last game puck as Chris Osgood threw it into the crowd as he left the ice.

Overall, a solid game by the Wings and a much better one than I was expecting. I figured the Panthers would slow things up so much that they’d lull Detroit to sleep and win because of a garbage goal or two. I never dreamed I’d see Lidstrom and Chelios score own-goals like that and I never expected to see two penalty shots in the same game. I was impressed with the pace at which the game was played and enjoyed the long stretches where there were no whistles. I have to say, I like Dan Cleary with the Eurotwins, but I’ll be glad to see Tomas Holmstrom return to that line.

Hopefully the team will be ready to play a similarly active game against Washington on Monday.

Links

Wings 3, Oilers 4 (SO)

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 14, 2007
in 2007-2008, Game Reports and Oilers
. 4 Comments

Update (2:41 PM): George Malik has posted his Wings-Oilers wrap-up at Snapshots. - Matt

The Wings lost to the Oilers 4-3 in a shoot out last night in one of the least exciting games of the season. Neither team played all that well, but Detroit looked particularly flat and were lucky to get a point. Edmonton played a high-energy, physical game and the Wings were unable to do much of anything on their own terms. They did outshoot the Oilers 42-25, which I suppose is something.

… Dominik Hasek made 22 saves, but I didn’t think this was his best game.

On Edmonton’s first goal, he was too far out of the net and he gave up just enough of a rebound off the Sheldon Souray lob that Ales Hemsky had an easy time of it putting the puck in.

He had no chance on the Joni Pitkanen goal, which was just a nice play and an unstoppable shot.

On the third goal, however, he was not holding the post when Sam Gagner made a nice pass to Fernando Pisani out front. Despite the fact that Brett Lebda was draped all over him, Pisani had a relatively easy time of it putting the puck over Dom’s right shoulder.

In  the shootout, Dom made a solid save on a tricky Gagner, but was beaten blocker-side by a straight-up shot by Hemsky. I don’t blame him for the loss, not by a long shot, but it looks like he’s still got a kink or two to work out.

There was a bad moment in the third period when Shawn Horcoff drove to the net, lost his footing, and slide skate-first into Hasek’s chest. It was immediately evident that Dom was hurt on the play and when FSN zoomed in on his face, he looked to be in some serious pain. Chris Osgood immediately got ready to go in and was about to step on the ice when Hasek got up, seemingly none the worse for wear.  Even with Chris Osgood playing as well as he has, an injury to Hasek is one of the last things the Wings need. They dodged a bullet there.

… Mark Hartigan scored his first goal as a Red Wing in just his second game. It came as a bit of a surprise, as the play looked harmless enough, but Roloson dropped his shoulder and gave the AHL call-up just enough space to squeeze the puck through. It was more bad goaltending than anything else. I’m glad he scored, but I’m going to go on record as saying I don’t like Mark Hartigan. My fiancé and her best friend are experts on the Griffins and they have nothing good to say about the guy and because I’ve learned to trust their judgment on all things Griffins, I’m not signing up for the Mart Hartigan Fan Club.

… Henrik Zetterberg scored two goals and tied the game up both times, but I did not think it was his best game. Too many poor decisions with the puck, in my opinion, not the least of which was his decision to rip a slap shot in the shootout. However, he was more noticeable than Pavel Datsyuk, who was mostly neutralized by the Oilers, though he did, at least, come close to beating Roloson in the shootout.

… The Eurotwins played some with Mikael Samuelsson last night, but had more success with Dan Cleary. Sammy’s hit one of the worst dry patches of his time here in Detroit. Valtteri Filppula finished with 19:45 in ice time, but remains all but completely ineffective. I don’t know what it’s going to take to get those two going.

… Aaron Downey was twice the victim of some Academy Award-worthy acting on the part of  Dwayne Roloson as he received two penalties for bumping the Edmonton goaltender. He made contact on both occasions, but was pushed into him by the Oiler defense each time. Still, it’s not characteristic of Downey to put himself in that kind of position, which is further evidence that the Wings were off their game last night.

… Even Nick Lidstrom looked a little off last night, as he was beaten by the Oiler speed at least a couple times and just did not look as smooth as he does normally.

… The Wings need to figure out a different power play strategy for times when Tomas Holmstrom is out of the lineup. No one else on the team can come close to doing what Homer does and when they try for the same plan of attack on the man-advantage despite his absence, that fact is never more obvious.

… I hate it when teams play for the shootout like the Oilers did last night. They hardly tried to score in overtime, despite the fact that they had a couple solid chances.  Their shootout record may look pretty impressive, but really it’s pathetic, as they’ve had to rely on a gimic to get nine wins. They have just six wins not tainted by the shootout, while the Wings have 19.

… The Wings have notched at least a point in each of their last nine games, but they were fortunate to get the last three. In Nashville, they barely held on and emerged with a win and at home last night, they were outplayed by the NHL’s youngest team. Hopefully they’ll fare better against one of the League’s worst, Washington, Florida tomorrow.

Links

Wings 5, Wild 0

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 8, 2007
in 2007-2008, Game Reports and Wild
. 0 Comments

The boys from Hockeytown destroyed the impostors from Minneosta last night in one of their most dominating performances of the season. Henrik Zetterberg lit up Wild goaltender Josh Harding with three beautiful goals for his second career hat trick and Dominik Hasek showed the NHL that he’s back to form with his 77th career shutout.

… At the beginning of the game, the Wild were pretty effective at slowing the game down to a mind-numbingly dull  poke-checking trap-fest. And they were very open about it, with Brian Rolston telling Larry Murphy that they were “trapping it up pretty good.” Indeed. But the Wings top line gradually wore the Minnesota defense down and finally cracked Harding at 17:53 of the first with Zetterberg’s first.

… Hank’s first goal came just after the expiration of a Detroit power play and on a delayed penalty. After the Wild failed to clear, the puck ended up on Pavel Datsyuk’s stick on the far side. He sent it across the ice to Zetterberg, who was all alone to Harding’s right. Hank picked the puck up from around the feet of the ref and then put it over Harding, who was still moving across the net on his knees. Larry Murpthy told Hank at the intermission that he’d never seen anything like it, which was probably some hyperbole on Murph’s part, though it was a unique goal.

… Zetterberg’s second goal came at 5:31 of the second period, while the Wild were on the power play. After the Wild turned it over at the Detroit blueline, Hank took it up ice with Franzen trailing. He dropped the puck off to Johan, who ripped a shot wide of the net from the slot. Franzen picked up the rebound off the backboards  and dished it to Zetterberg out front. Hank moved across the goalmouth right-to-left and waited until Harding committed before banking it in off the far post. The best of his three, in my opinion.

… 1:10 later, Jiri Hudler put the Wings up 3-0  on another Minnesota delayed penalty. With Hasek on the bench, Huds came over the boards as the sixth man. He found a dead spot at the bottom of the left circle and one-timed a pass from Filppula through Harding to score. I have to say, Hudler has a very hard shot when he gets a chance to use it.

… Johan Franzen’s goal at 9:50 came on the power play and was just a case of his being johnny-on-the-spot when Harding gave up a tiny rebound off a Kronwall shot. It was precisely the kind of goal you want to see Johan get.

… Zetterberg completed his hat trick just 41 seconds into the third period off the feed from Datsyuk. With Holmstrom skating across the front of the net, Hank’s one-timer from the right circle beat Harding after being tipped by his defenseman. For whatever reason, it seems like hat tricks don’t happen all that often in Detroit, while you hear of them pretty commonly around the rest of the league. There’s the Gordie Howe hat trick and the apparent Red Wings hat trick, which is two goals and a goalpost. It was great to see Hank get just the second in his career (the first came last February in the Wings’ 4-1 win over Phoenix), and I hope we’ll see that more often.

… With the Wings up 4-0, Todd Fedoruk tried to get Aaron Downey to fight at 12:58 of the second period and, surprisingly enough, Aaron accepted. However, he lost his balance and fell down before they could get started and the fight never happened. Fedoruk, to his credit, just tried to help Downey up rather than lay into him, but despite the willingness of both parties to go at it, the officials broke it up. Just over two minutes later, they went for it again and this time nothing interrupted them.

Both players got some good licks in, but Downey fell to the ice and probably lost. I was a little surprise Downey would even entertain the idea of a fight, given that it could have provided some spark to the Wild, but he must have felt they were in such control of the game that it didn’t matter. Fortunately for him, it did not come back to bite him.

… Dominik Hasek’s play at 17:41 of the third period was probably the highlight of the game. With the Wild on their way to their second straight loss, the puck ended up on the stick of Marian Gaborik at center ice and behind the Wings’ defense. Hasek, facing down a total breakaway, chose to come out and challenge rather than wait for Gaborik to arrive. Like he’s done so many times before, Dom attempted to slide-tackle the puck away and was successful, hitting the puck just before Gaborik collided with him.

(via Kukla’s Korner, my apologies for the song)

Gaborik hit Dom in his leg pads and went flying up and over, flipping and nearly landing on his head. Definitely a dangerous play, but a smart one by Hasek. Had Gaborik had his head up, he could have possibly maneuvered around the prone goalie, but as it was, he was caught looking down. Hasek was given a tripping penalty on the play and probably deserved it, but it was a worthwhile penalty, as Gaborik on a breakaway is far more dangerous than Gaborik on the power play. There is some talk that the League will review the play, but I think that’s just wishful thinking on the part of the Wild faithful.

Dom’s performance in the game was solid and encouraging, as he only had to face 19 shots yet did not give up a softy due to not having enough work. It seems he is adapting to the Wings’ defensive style, finally. It looks like he’s back, folks. He’ll get his third-straight start tomorrow against Carolina, while Chris Osgood will start Monday versus Nashville, at least according to Mike Babcock in his post-game comments. He says Osgood will go against the Preds because he usually plays well in Nashville, no other reason. Then, the rotation will start.

… Much hay has been made over the recent declaration of Minneapolis-St. Paul as “Hockeytown USA” by some Sports Illustrated hack. I won’t dignify the story with a link, though I will say a couple things about it.

“Hockeytown” insofar as it refers to Detroit, has always been a marketing thing first and foremost. It applied during a time when the Wings were the only competitive team in Detroit and thus received the most attention. With all four teams in Detroit at various levels of competitiveness, the accuracy of “Hockeytown” has declined a bit, but that does not mean it no longer applies. Despite the fact that the Joe no longer sells out, the Wings remain the team with the second-largest fanbase in the League (behind Toronto) and have hundreds, sometimes thousands, of their fans going to their games in every NHL city. Hockeytown, to me, refers to the fanbase everywhere, not just in Detroit.

Besides, the Wings have a pending trademark on the phrase, so whatever the Sports Illustrated writer says, it’s theirs.

… The Wings are on a roll, folks. They are as efficient as I’ve ever seen them and are dominating teams up and down the ice. It’s still early in the season, but it’s exciting to see.

Links

Wings 4, Canadiens 1

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 5, 2007
in 2007-2008, Canadiens and Game Reports
. 0 Comments

Update (11:34 AM): I meant to mention that the Eurotwins were in fact split up last night, but not at the beginning. They actually started the game on the same line and were only separated later, with periodic reunions on the power play. With Pavel playing so well and Hank not more than a couple steps behind, the split wasn’t such a bad idea. - Matt

The Wings won their first game in Montreal since 2003 and put on one of their better performances of the season in the process. They weathered an early push by the Habs and soon established a dominance that extended most of the rest of the game.

… The big story of the game was Dominik Hasek. Although he only faced 16 shots, Dom demonstrated that he’s still “got it,” as more than a few of his 15 saves were very tough. He obviously had a lot to prove given his slow start and last night he went a long way in re-establishing himself. He was caught a little flat-footed on the Habs’ one goal, but I can’t really blame him for that.

If he can that up in his next start, Mike Babcock will need to find a way to get both of his goalies the games necessary to keep them sharp. That will make the Wings that much tougher to play against.

… The other story of the game was Pavel Datsyuk, who had yet another dominating performance, finishing with two goals and one assist. Both of his goals came off intercepted Canadien passes and were basically unstoppable. His assist on Henrik Zetterberg’s power play goal was pretty conventional, but you can see the Habs respecting him as a threat as he carries the puck into the zone. Pavel’s turned his slow start around with 7 goals in his last 5 games, making him the player with the hottest stick on the team.

… Andreas Lilja got away with a pretty nasty hit early in the first period. With the Habs clearing their zone, Lilja stepped up and shoved Steve Begin into the boards from 4-5 feet out. Begin went flying sideways into the boards, hitting first with his head, and lay there for some time before getting up. Despite the fact that he struggled to get to the bench, the officials were slow to whistle the play dead.

Begin got some revenge later in the game when he and Lilja had a jersey-pulling contest disguised as a fight, but that doesn’t make it right. That’s not Red Wings hockey, Andreas.

… I normally think of Saku Koivu as a mild-mannered guy, but he was an ornery punk last night. He and Tomas Holmstrom nearly had a fight later in the first period and in the third, a tussle with Mikael Samuelsson resulted in former Red Wings Mathieu Dandenault executing a flying tackle on his captain’s antagonizer (and getting a game misconduct for his trouble). While I can appreciate Dandy wanting to come to the defense of his captain, the whole flying tackle thing was dangerous and unnecessary. I’m glad he got booted.

All that unfriendliness had me wishing the Wings didn’t have to wait until next year to play Montreal again. A home-and-home series would have been great, but because they’re not in the Central, a rivalry with the Habs is not officially sanctioned.

… I thought Casey Price looked quite solid, until Pavel started to wear him down with his two goals. Price didn’t have a chance on Kronwall’s goal, which was tipped, but he should have had Zetterberg’s and by that point, he looked a bit shaken. He’s a 20-year-old rookie playing in a high-pressure town, but did a good job over all. His teammates owe him better support than they gave him. I think Guy Carbonneau is pretty out of line to call out the goaltending when his skaters underperformed so badly.

… The fans in Montreal are merciless. You make a good play and you might get a so-so response. But you make a bad play and the boos rain down. One example: in the third period, the Habs basically passed Datsyuk the puck and the crowd got furious. I thought it was hilarious.

… Every time I watch Versus, I’m embarrassed by the amateurism of the broadcast. At one point, the color guy was praising the linesman for making a routine off-sides call. Why? When Koivu and Holmstrom got into it during the first period, they knew a penalty was called, but didn’t know who it was on and so they just stopped talking for 20-30 seconds. The FSN crew would have been on that immediately. I don’t want to make this a Versus-bash, so just one more thing: Brian Engblom needs a make-over, badly. His hair hit a new low last night.

A couple positives: they at least showed the ceremonial puck drop before the game and interviewed Gordie Howe in the crowd. The interview with Chris Osgood was also a highlight. The interview with Claude Lemieux? Not so much. If I never have to hear his voice or see his face again, I’ll be happy.

… Overall, a very good game for the Wings, who seem to get a kick out of playing Eastern Conference teams, as this and their game against the Lightning were two of their best all season. That they went without allowing a power play goal on seven chances despite being down their two best penalty killers is as good a sign as there is that the team is on a roll.

Links

Wings 4, Lightning 2

Published
by
Matt Saler
on November 30, 2007
in 2007-2008, Game Reports and Lightning
. 5 Comments

Update (2:10 PM): I forgot to mention earlier that Henrik Zetterberg’s home point streak ended at 27 games last night. With the net empty at the end of the third, the team made an obvious push to get him the puck, but he sent his best chance wide. As unfortunate as that was, it’s good to see the Wings winning on secondary scoring, with Tomas Kopecky getting the game-winner rather than someone from the top line. - Matt

The Wings won their only meeting with the Tampa Bay Lightning this season, putting up four goals to the Bolts’ two last night at the Joe. Despite the fact that Tampa managed 23 shots, it seemed to me that the game was one of the more lopsided contests game the Wings have played all season. They dictated play virtually the whole game. Quite frankly, the Lightning were a disappointment.

… Marc Denis was in net for Tampa Bay. He should take the posts out to dinner, as they are the only reason he didn’t get lit up for eight goals instead of four. Two of the post incidents were especially memorable. On the first, Denis was completely down and out with Pavel Datsyuk looking at a wide-open net in a situation similar to his eventual goal. The defenseman must have gotten his stick on the puck at the last second because it’s hard to believe Pavel would shank it that badly, but it clanged off the far post. Later, the prettiest passing play you ever saw ended with a heavy Henrik Zetterberg shot going off the far side post in the other end. That one really hurt because it would have been such a great play to put on the highlight reel.

… At the other end, Chris Osgood was stellar. He had zero chance on either of the Lightning’s two goals and great saves on their few scoring chances. He continues to exude confidence.

… Chris Chelios’ pass to Jiri Hudler on the opening goal was a thing of beauty. Great veteran play by Chelios and nice anticipation by Jiri. The little Czech is looking better all the time.

… Pavel Datsyuk is heating. IwoCPO puts it perfectly at Abel to Yzerman:

And speaking of Datsyuk…stand by. He’s been around long enough for us to recognize the signs and they’re all there. 4 goals and 6 points the last three games and he’s just heating up. Forget the stats and just consider the way he’s controlling play every shift.

He’s been racking up the assists all year, but now the puck is going in for him and he’s looking as sharp as ever. That’s great news for the Wings.

… I give lots of credit to Aaron Downey for choosing to ignore Andre Roy when the Wings were ahead. Roy was trying to get him to go most of the night, but Downey knew it would only serve to get the Lightning fired up at a time in which the Wings were dominating. Keeping Downey was another great decision by the Wings.

… Tomas Kopecky’s goal in the second period came as a complete surprise to me. I knew he had offensive skill, but I never expected to see him break in, shoulder-fake Denis, and roof it like he did. One of the prettier goals of the year so far, even if it was against a sub-par goalie. As much as the team wants him to focus on his defensive game, I hope that goal just the beginning for him.

… Ken Daniels and Mikey Redmond spent the remainder of the night singing Andreas Lilja’s praises following Kopecky’s goal. The big Swede’s pass that let Kopey get in the clear was definitely a great one and evidence that Nick Lidstrom is rubbing off on #3 more than most fans think. I’m starting to appreciate Lilja more and more, and already consider him one of the team’s better penalty killers.

… Mark Hartigan was a complete non-factor in the game. The two highly-knowledgeable Griffins fans that I watched the game with called him a dirty, lazy player. I’m glad he’s been sent back to the Griffins.

… Good to see Dan Cleary get on the board again. As with Kopecky, hopefully he’ll be able to build on the goal.

… All in all, a strong performance by the Wings, who’ll need to keep up the offensive dominance as they head into a game against Ilya Bryzgalov and the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday. While the Coyotes aren’t anything to write home about, but Bryzgalov is a great goalie and one that’ll be harder to beat than Marc Denis.

Links

11/27 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on November 28, 2007
in 2007-2008, Flames, Game Reports and Video
. 0 Comments

Update (1:10 PM): George Malik has a slick roundup of media and player comments on the game over at Snapshots. - Matt

… So the Wings beat the Flames 5-3 last night. From the little that I saw online (while in class), it looked like a fast-paced game, though that impression may be due to the stop-and-go nature of the video feed. Since I didn’t get to watch the whole thing and therefore cannot comment on it much at all, I have some links for you:

… Aside from the win, the big news coming out of the game is the injury to Kris Draper at 18:40 of the first period. Evidently, he twisted his left knee while behind the net with Owen Nolan. He was able to drive himself to the DMC for an MRI, but Mike Babcock told the media “”We’re a little concerned right now,” though the hope is obviously that it’s nothing major. We’ll probably find out more today.

As the Freep points out, Johan Franzen, the last Red Wing to sprain his knee, missed 10 games. Let’s hope Drapes can make it back sooner than that.

… If you’re looking for the Dion Phaneuf hit on Jiri Hudler, look no further:

Fortunately for him, Jiri gets his head up at the last second there, so he wasn’t totally unprepared. A bit of a high one, but Hudler is one of the shorter guys in the league, so that isn’t so surprising. A spectacular hit, to be sure, though I’m not a fan of the elbow-on-head contact.

… In response to Ian’s question on the gameday post, the “A” is on rotation between Zetterberg, Draper, and Datsyuk.

Also, yes, we’d be screwed if one of the top three goes down. More so if one of the Eurotwins does, but losing Homer would decimate the power play.